Email Author Michael Simmons

2011 Stories by Michael Simmons

• Still Blowing Out Candles in the Wind

  published May 19, 2011

  There have been so many celebrations of Bob Dylan's birthday lately, it feels as if he's been turning 70 for about a year. Which, I guess,... More >>

• Red -- Hank You Very Much

  published May 19, 2011

  I once knew a gorgeous German blonde named Bettina whose love of great books was so deep, she'd become sexually aroused by the musty scent of... More >>

• AND He Really Grows a Thick Beard!

  published May 19, 2011

  Steve Earle is America's finest singer-songwriter of a certain middle-age. From his astonishing debut album, Guitar Town, through Jerusalem, the... More >>

• 

  COVER STORY

  Bob Dylan Turns 70

  published May 12, 2011

  I'm 56 years old. Old enough to remember one president's assassination and another's resignation, black people getting beaten... More >>

• Open Mouths, Open Minds

  published May 12, 2011

  "In those days artistic success was not dollar driven," Bob Neuwirth once said of the early 1960s scene. "If you had something to say, [that] was... More >>

• COME SMELL UNCLE JOHN'S BAND

  published April 14, 2011

  4:20 is code for the time of day stoners allow themselves to blaze. The genesis of this custom is hazy (of course), though High Times... More >>

• Make Out, Little Susie

  published April 7, 2011

  Susie Bright is the Emma Goldman of our time, a fearless left-wing troublemaker who celebrates sexuality as yet another front where human beings... More >>

• Not That Arthur. This Arthur.

  published April 7, 2011

  The late Arthur Penn was one of the greatest movie directors of all time, yet the Philly-born maverick was a self-proclaimed "outsider to American... More >>

• All the News That's Fit to Rock

  published March 24, 2011

  San Francisco Chronicle pop music critic Joel Selvin is the last of the great rock 'n' roll newspapermen. Streetwise and knowledgeable,... More >>

• THERE'S NO "THE" BEFORE EAGLES

  published March 24, 2011

  Having lived through the Great Singer-Songwriter Scare of the early 1970s, I had mixed feelings before I saw the documentary Troubadours.... More >>

• The Other Nirvana

  published March 24, 2011

  When Cobain hit the big time, old-timers had to remind young 'uns that Kurt's crew weren't the first Nirvana. Nirvana (U.K.), as they are now... More >>

• THE ICING ON THE GRAVY

  published March 10, 2011

  "It was a time when originality wasn't just tolerated, it was expected," says Buffy Sainte-Marie in the new documentary Saint Misbehavin': The... More >>

• Carlin’s Darlin’

  published March 3, 2011

  Many couples communicate by leaving silly little notes of endearment for each other. However, most couples aren't George Carlin and Sally Wade,... More >>

• A TOAST TO ONE WHO IS GONE

  published February 24, 2011

  Like the eccentric at the beach scouring the sand for quarters with a metal detector, many of us are looking for inspiration anywhere we can find... More >>

• FREAKS R US

  published February 17, 2011

  Drew Friedman is a legendary graphic illustrator. Pick up a magazine or glance at a book cover and chances are that you'll wear a silly grin the... More >>

• WE LOVE THEM/YEAH, YEAH, YEAH

  published February 10, 2011

  On February 11, 1964, the Beatles performed their first American concert at the Washington Coliseum in D.C. As historic as their Ed Sullivan... More >>

• Just Grab Your Hat and Take That Ride

  published January 20, 2011

  The oxymoron of conventional wisdom repeats the canard that hippie-era communes were simply safe houses for sex, drugs and rock & roll. While... More >>

• GO WORK YOURSELF

  published January 13, 2011

  "Death before work!" proclaimed Yippie troublemaker Abbie Hoffman back when utopian visions of Woodstock Nation promised to permanently end wage... More >>

• THE CAP BLOWS FORWARD 'N' THE CAP BLOWS BACK

  published January 6, 2011

  As the human race more and more resembles a high school production of Invasion of the Body Snatchers , the departure of authentic... More >>

• HOLD ON, JOHN

  published January 6, 2011

  It's not as if John Lennon has suffered from a lack of biography, but properly writ Lennon tomes are always welcome by us fans. It can't hurt to... More >>